“Dragon” is such a vague category of creature with such a ridiculous
diversity of bauplans. It doesn’t matter how big it is or how many legs
it has or whether it has wings or not: you can call it a dragon if it is
kind of snakey, and/or breathes fire (virtually anything that can
breathe fire has the potential to qualify as a dragon).
Case in point, look at all these different things that are dragons:
By the same token we haven’t examined whether “unicorn” can be as broad a category as “dragon.” A lot of creatures across many cultures have been called unicorns, and are described as being shaped variously like horses, goats, deer, and cattle, among other things.
White unicorns are overrepresented in media, but unicorns can be any color. Winged unicorns are not as popular but are just as qualified. Look at this powerful, oxlike winged unicorn from the Apadana in Iran next to its fellow winged unicorn Twilight Sparkle.
Unicorns do generally seem to be ungulates. Which raises the question: is any one-horned ungulate a unicorn? How about a rhinoceros? Some rhinos have a single horn. The scientific name of the Indian rhinoceros is even Rhinoceros unicornis. Since unicorn literally just means “one horn,” I think a rhinoceros with a single horn is definitely a unicorn, and therefore the extinct elasmotherium is a unicorn.
Qilin (麒麟) may or may not be ungulates but they are often considered unicorns despite being very scaly. And since term “unicorn” does literally just mean “one horn” … why stop there ……. if unicorns can be scaly, huge, and extinct, is centrosaurus a unicorn? I think centrosaurus can be a unicorn if it wants to be a unicorn. It may not have hooves, but some qilin don’t have hooves, either.
Fuck it, you know what? Unicorn.
I mean, narwhals ARE ungulates, so it makes sense to me
